People learn driving skills mainly from driving schools, which provide vehicles equipped with dual brake systems. An alternative way is to drive a non-driving-school vehicle under the supervision of any qualified individual. However, non-driving-school-vehicles are rarely installed with dual brake systems, which are either costly or complicated. Therefore, it is not a safe practice to drive such a vehicle without a dual brake system.
In the past decades, many approaches have been suggested to provide dual brake systems. Nevertheless, several disadvantages exist in earlier prior arts, which include: inability of being mounted in variable vehicle models, complexity of installation and structural damage.
One approach utilizes elongated rods, cables or the like, which are built on floor-mounted brackets either in the driver or passenger compartment. The mechanisms of such dual brake systems could be reflected in prior inventions by way of examples in U.S. Pat. No. 2,710,547 (A. F. Davenport, Jun. 14, 1955), U.S. Pat. No. 3,174,359 (J. I. Rose, Mar. 23, 1965), U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,795 (F. T. Kenney, Mar. 16, 1976) and in S.E. Pat. No. 503,019 (R. Magnusson, et al, Feb. 26, 1996). Though these devices might be effective, one apparent drawback would not be welcomed by customers. To mount the brackets, the floor board must be drilled through or welded, which can cause structural damage to the vehicle.
To avoid structural damage to vehicles, some inventors propose frames or brackets to support the braking apparatus without drilling or welding. For example, I. J. Ehrenberg, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,599,376 (published on Jun. 3, 1952), places a series of supporting brackets on the floor board in the passenger compartment. E. B. Holum, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,720,121 (published on Oct. 11, 1955), secures two jacks to the floor board and the lower edge of a dashboard. Similarly, Z. V. Barresi, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,246 (published on Jan. 26, 1982), discloses a system by placing supporting structures under the dashboard in the passenger compartment. These prior arts include some elongated control parts installed transversely under the dashboard, which are hardly compatible with present day vehicles.
A further attempt to avoid structural damage to vehicles is disclosed by Z. Feng, in an auxiliary brake control system in U.S. Pat. No. 7,207,238 (published on Apr. 24, 2007). Nevertheless, several disadvantages are apparent in the prior art. Firstly, one of the vital supporting structures in the system is deeply mounted on a bracket at the base of a brake master cylinder under the dashboard. There is great technical difficulty in installing such a device well below the dashboard. Secondly, the prior art entirely relies on a “typical” bracket of the cylinder to establish a support. In fact, the structure of the cylinder can be varied from model to model, and some vehicles do not have a “typical” supporting bracket suitable for the system to be mounted on. Therefore, the system would not be universally fitted to different vehicle models. More importantly, to help the brake arm return to its normal rest position, a compression spring is placed under the brake arm. The compression spring will increase the resistance of the normal brake, as a result, it would impair the brake function.
In recent years, J. Liu and Y. Liu in CN Pat No. 201,597,587 (published on Oct. 6, 2010), develop an easy-to-install hydraulic device to attain brake control. There are some disadvantages in the device. The main drawback is oil leakage, which can cause mechanical failure. Meanwhile, the apparatus, placed high above the floor board of the driver compartment, will be an inconvenience to a driver when getting in and out of the vehicle.
Some other easy-to-install devices have been invented, which can be revealed by way of examples in CN Pat. No. 201,254,171 (C, Xu, Jun. 10, 2009), and CN Pat. No. 201,494,423 (Sh, Shi, Jun. 2, 2010). Nevertheless, the supporting brackets of these devices are insecurely placed on the floor board in the driver compartment and against the front surface of the driver seat; displacement could occur and result in mechanical failure as well. It would be a risk to use such a device which lacks a secured and reliable support.
Establishing a supporting point is a fundamental step in constructing an auxiliary brake control system. The approaches in prior arts to establish a supporting point have disadvantages aforementioned. To design an ideal auxiliary brake control device for an educational driving vehicle, the drawbacks of the prior arts must be overcome.
Therefore, one object of the present invention is to provide the advantages of an auxiliary brake control system which can be widely adapted to different vehicle models.
Another object of the present invention is to provide the advantages of an auxiliary brake control system which is easy to install and uninstall.
Another object of the present invention is to provide the advantages of a securely installed device.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such a system without any structural damage to vehicles for installation.
In the present art, the main parts involved in this device include: a piece of brake cable, an adjustable connecting frame, an unique designed adjustable supporting structure, and an auxiliary brake assembly.
The supporting structure of the device is attached to a driver-seat-bracket, which is an essential component to anchor the driver seat on the floor board of a vehicle and is in an easy-reach position. The present art has the advantages of providing strong and reliable support, being easy to install and uninstall, and having a non-damaging installation process. The adjustable designs make it possible for the system to be a universal brake assisting device for variable vehicle models.